Mirror on the Wall

03/2021

Marketing

Closeness, characteristic of the beauty testimonials too
Photos: Fluff Cosmetics

Simple, transparent and non-wasteful – the core principle of Fluff

How a Gen Z make-up brand
is successfully breaking with
industry clichés.

Even before the first products of Australian brand Fluff were available in 2018, their fans could find out what it was all about in the regular newsletters of the founder, Erika Geraerts. Geraerts, who has already founded and left one beauty brand in Frank Body, points the way with her mission statement: “To create a make-up brand for girls that encourages wearing less make-up, using social media to encourage spending less time on their phones.”

A few months later the first products were introduced. With just two lines initially, the product range follows the “less is more” philosophy of the founder. Packaging and communication were aimed at the target group of 14–18-year-old girls. From the beginning, the brand cultivated a strong community with features such as a free telephone hotline that girls can call if they are bored or lonely.

One of the young brand’s most successful campaigns to date launched on Instagram with the question, “What are your issues with the beauty industry?”, and the challenge to post a selfie in response. Within the target group, over 200,000 people responded to the campaign. Influencers relevant to the users took up the topic and spread it further.

Currently, fans can order 16 different cosmetic products on the bright yellow company website, which keeps the target group interested with horoscopes and advice articles. In addition, the merchandise includes T-shirts printed with the statement “I’m prettier now that I don’t care,” or the bestseller in this category: the Magic 8 Ball, a squeaky yellow plastic sphere that answers its owners’ questions with suggestions on a simple triangular display. One of them is “Wear less make-up.”